In a timely manner

Always in motion is the future.

YODA, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Remember a few weeks back when I promised to get these postings done in a more timely manner?  If you don't, good.  If you do, maybe I should explain a littlek about myself and how this blog gets done.


I normally work 5 hours a week at the Marble Public Library.  I also fill in as needed and do the summer reading program for the Coleraine Public Library.  Sometimes I also fill in at City Hall in Coleraine.  Yep, I've got a few jobs.  I'm fortunate that I don't have to work full time to make ends meet, and even more fortunate that I get to work with a great group of people no matter where I go.  I get to interact with the public, and it's fun to get to see some of the same people at various jobs.


Working at a small library, you get to do a little bit of everything: shelve books, pull books, get new books ready for check-out, research; the list goes on and on.  One of the main focuses of my job is story hour and library reading programs.  I get to plan what we're going to do and what we're going to read.  I get to look at incentives for the programs, and figure out the way they're going to be run.  There's probably more work involved than the average person is aware of.  You stop in and your child gets a book log, and some kind of logo-ed treat to entice your child to read.  Yep, library workers know that it doesn't just get thrown together without any forethought. 


So there's how my job works.  Now, how does this blog get done?  While I'm at work I find a topic, write for half an hour and publish it.  Hahaha.  I wish.  If I've got a good idea and don't need to do any research, it can happen like that.  It doesn't often work that way.  Coming up with an idea to pontificate about is the beginning.  Many of my Facebook friends will attest to me asking them for topics they'd like to see covered when I can't come up with something on my own.  Yes; readers, I take advantage of the fact that you are intelligent people with good ideas of your own.  I draw on that when I'm stumped.  Sometimes I get ideas and start typing only to find after an hour that it's going no where.  Sometimes I get ideas that just don't come together.  I've got a few in my drafts folder now.  A few more weeks of not coming up with anything substantial and I'll have as many drafts as I do published postings.  I'll keep them there because sometimes I can go back and turn them into something read-able. 


Start writing, then it's on to the fun stuff.  Quotes!  I love quotes.  Little bits of wisdom in bite sized pieces.  I use three sites to find them: quoteland.com, quotegarden.com, and brainyquote.com.  Sometimes when I'm stumped, I just look for a quote to inspire me.  Then I move on to the pictures.  I use flickr.com.  Do I tell people I'm using their pictures in the blog.  No.  Not usually.  Is that wrong?  I'm not sure.  You can click on any of the pictures and it will take you over to flickr and you can tell on me.  I figure that I've got pictures on flickr that anyone else can use for anything, so what goes around comes around.  I've never taken credit for anyone else's picture, and the links are generally attatched to the photos.  There are pictures that don't come from flickr, but those generally have the link attatched.  I'm thinking the book people probably don't mind my posting a picture that may entice someone to read and perhaps purchase the title I'm talking about.  Sometimes I do use my own pictures.  A few times I've had to take pictures to go along with the blog. 


How often do I get all this done during my 5 hours of work?  It's pretty rare.  Usually I do it at home.  Mostly, I start at work and finish at home.  Do I get paid for it?  Hahaha, of course.  Everyone knows that public libraries are where the money is at.  If you want big bucks, go into public service.  No, I don't.  I'm a library lover and huge library advocate so I do it on my own time.  I enjoy it.  They say that if you can find your passion, that's where you'll find the big money.  To which I say, baaaaaa-logna.  Maybe it was just a passing fad, but I recall Oprah doing a show on it.  I've heard it said elsewhere before and since.  For some people it might be true, but I would guess not for everyone.  I suppose working at a job (or three) that you really enjoy is its own reward.  Or, this is often late because you get what you pay for.
 

Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving. 

~Martin Amis, Money